Women in Mining – Page 10 – Republic of Mining

Women in Mining in Canada: Changing the Mining Industry – by Dick DeStefano (February 3, 2014)

September 5, 2018February 3, 2014

Dick DeStefano is the Executive Director of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA). destefan@isys.ca

One of most current issues in the mining community is the growing population of professional women who are actively participating in the mining work force globally.

I recently wrote an article entitled, “What Would We Do Without Women in Mining?” describing an organization recently reconstructed and reorganized into an association called Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury. This association introduces a week-long event outlining the importance of mining to over 1000 elementary and high school students.

It has become increasingly obvious as the association grows in size and structure that professional women in mining are not only leading the way in their daily mining responsibilities but specifically the 14 women on the 21 member committee are developing educational awareness on the importance of the industry through multiple interactive activities at this event. The association is hoping to target more young women considering a profession in a growing and important sector. These 14 women brought their daily experience to the Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury event.

Mining while female: The perils of Marikana – by Ilham Rawoot (Al Jazeera.com – January 20, 2014)

January 21, 2014

http://www.aljazeera.com/

Women miners in South Africa say they are often subjected to sexual harassment – and worse – while on the job.

Johannesburg, South Africa – It has been almost two years since 27-year-old Pinky Mosiane was raped and murdered hundreds of metres underground in an Anglo Platinum mineshaft in Marikana, South Africa.

A suspect in the Mosiane case was finally arrested three months ago. This was not the first time a woman mineworker had been raped underground in South Africa. But it was the first time that substantial attention was given to these women and the sexual harassment they are subjected to on a daily basis.

In August 2012, a mining town named Marikana, along the “Platinum Belt” in South Africa’s North West province, made headlines around the globe. Thirty-four mineworkers employed by platinum miner Lonmin were killed when police opened fire during a strike over wages.

But the women of Lonmin have often remained unnoticed. “Anne”, a miner employed by Lonmin in Marikana who asked that her real name not be used, has been working underground for three years fixing ventilation pipes. With her gold-painted nails and not a stray hair amid her tight braids, it is hard to imagine her labouring in overalls, covered in black dust.

Pioneering Manitoba woman to enter Mining Hall of Fame – by Chris Purdy (Canadian Press/Global – January 15, 2014)

January 15, 2014

http://globalnews.ca/toronto/

Kate Rice was so brilliant she could have done anything, and her family was so wealthy she could have done nothing at all.

The adventurous, tough-as-nails beauty from southern Ontario set out for the rugged Manitoba wilderness 100 years ago with a shotgun and snowshoes in search of treasure.

She never struck it rich, but she did discover the first nickel deposits in the province and made headlines across the continent as Canada’s first “girl” prospector.

“Living in the middle of nowhere, depending solely on yourself … I know how hard it is to work in a man’s world,” says Toronto businesswoman Linda Rice, 60, who recently found the mining legend’s name on a branch of her family tree.

She says she can’t even imagine what life would have been like for such a woman a century ago. “I was gobsmacked … I was very excited that I was related to such a pioneer.”

OMA NEWS RELEASE: Let’s look at Canadian mining’s all-star female team

December 18, 2013

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

The achievements and leadership qualities of 15 women working in the Canadian mining sector have been acknowledged through the Women in Mining U.K. launch of the 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining Project. Its goal is to recognize and promote the significant impact of females in the mineral industry.

“WIM (UK) has collaborated with WIM groups all over the world in order to reflect a broad cross-section of global industry talent in the 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining Project,” said Amanda Van Dyke, Chair of WIM (UK). “From engineers and geologists, to finance professionals and investors, each woman has been selected because of the lasting impact she makes on those around her as a positive role model and her contribution to the industry.”

“WIM (UK) congratulates each of these women and is pleased to celebrate their efforts to make the mining industry a more inviting and viable option for working women of different backgrounds,” she added. “Each woman contributes to the mining industry in her own meaningful way as endorsed by their nomination.”

Women in Mining. What would we do without them? – by Dick DeStefano (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – December 1, 2013)

September 7, 2018November 27, 2013

Dick DeStefano is the Executive Director of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA). destefan@isys.ca This column was originally published in the December 2013 issue of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal.

Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury (MMTS) is one of the best organizations in Canada for promoting and creating awareness of mining and the technology advances in the industry.

The organization is responsible for number of mining games and activities geared to elementary and high school students and teachers during April and May each year, events that attract thousands of students from the Sudbury district to Dynamic Earth, the city’s geoscience centre. These innovative and interactive opportunities expose students to the importance of new technologies required for the future of mining. MMTS 2013 week-long events attracted over 1,000 attendees.

MMTS 2014 will be special because the organization has commitments from a number of professional women with mining industry experience.

Beastie Boys vs. GoldieBlox: Viral Video Sparks Legal Battle Over Copyright Infringement [Women in Mining] – by Sara Gates (The Huffington Post – November 24, 2013)

November 25, 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Millions of viewers around the world may love the GoldieBlox commercial that soared to Internet fame last week, but apparently the Beastie Boys aren’t happy with one aspect of the girl-empowerment music video.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the hip-hop band has accused the toy company of copyright infringement for the unauthorized use of their 1987 hit “Girls”. They are reportedly arguing that GoldieBlox’s adaption of the song does not qualify as fair use, and claiming that the inclusion of “Girls” in the video is a “big problem” that has a “very significant impact.”

My Take on Snow Lake – by Marc Jackson (Thompson Citizen – October 25, 2013)

November 25, 2013

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.

MARC JACKSON – EDITOR@UNDERGROUNDPRESS.CA

Mihychuk secures Kate Rice’s induction in Canadian Mining Hall of Fame

Kathleen “Kate” Rice; her name and exploits have long been a part of local lore, however, thanks to MaryAnn Mihychuk, many others throughout Canada will soon become familiar with her inspiring story. After hundreds of hours of research, performed with the help of dozens of analysts over a two-year, Mihychuk has accomplished a goal she set for herself upon taking the position of Community Development Officer (CDO) with the Town of Snow Lake. She has secured induction into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame for the “Lady of the Lake.”

Kathleen Creighton Starr Rice will be inducted with full flourish and formality into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame at a dinner and ceremony which will take place at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto on Jan. 16.

Rice was born in 1883 at St. Marys, Ontario. Schooled there, she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1906, with a bachelor of mathematics degree.

Canadian mining industry needs more women, aboriginals, immigrants, says Iron Ore exec – by Tonda MacCharles (Toronto Star – November 18, 2013)

November 19, 2013

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Zoë Yujnovich has a challenge for the Canadian mining industry: diversify.

OTTAWA—Zoë Yujnovich has a challenge for the Canadian mining industry: diversify. Not holdings, projects or commodities, but ranks, as in workers, supervisors, company directors.

Hire more women, more aboriginals and more immigrant workers to improve the bottom line. It’s a challenge the 38-year-old mother of three children makes not as an outsider. As head of Montreal-based Iron Ore Canada — the job former prime minister Brian Mulroney once held — and chair of the Canadian Mining Association, her message comes right from the top.

In a speech she’ll deliver to an influential audience of policy-makers and mining executives Tuesday in Ottawa on the mining industry’s lobby day, Yujnovich intends to press for certain government assistance to bottom-line profitability: tax incentives to boost private-sector infrastructure in the North; more consistent application of the 12-month timelines promised for environmental reviews of new mining projects; and an overall regulatory structure that helps the industry.

Unearthing the Possibilities [Women and Mining] – by Ashley Milne-Tyte (Women of Influence – August 26, 2013)

November 1, 2013

https://www.womenofinfluence.ca/

(PLEASE NOTE DATE OF THIS POSTING!)

Considering that women weren’t even allowed underground at Canadian mines 40 years ago, the strides we’ve made into the industry — sometimes up to the C-suite — are to be celebrated.

When Barb Courte started working with her husband in the mining industry 18 years ago, his associates made clear this was no place for a woman — not the drill sites, not the office, not the mining conventions. This was a man’s world. Courte’s husband Garry ran a drilling company, and boring through the earth looking for minerals, because of the sheer physicality of the job, attracts tough, burly men — with attitudes to match.

Many didn’t want her around. “If I was talking to a man [at work], they’d spread the rumor I was having an affair,” she says. “I still to this day experience [problems] being a woman in this industry, but I’m such a smartass I turn it around with humour.” Several years ago she attended a mining convention and spotted a man who had been gossiping about her behind her back. She sat down next to him. “He turned his back on me. I said, ‘How many contracts do you have to bid on? He said ‘none.’ I said, ‘Well I’ve got 10, because I’m better looking.’ ”

Where Are All the Women in Mining? – by Tara Wiseman (Hujffington Post – August 13, 2013)

August 14, 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

The other day, I was watching my friend’s one-year-old daughter as she crawled through the grass. She ripped up dandelions in her chubby fingers, and buried her hands into the warm dirt in the garden. Then, before anyone could stop her, she shoved two fistfuls of mud into her mouth. We all laughed uncontrollably.

Then my friend said, “I hope she never outgrows this.”

My friend wasn’t talking about her daughter’s love for eating dirt. Rather, she was talking about her daughter’s love of the outdoors, her sense of adventure, her desire to get dirty. Then she explained that she wants her daughter to grow up tinkering with machines, collecting rocks, and building things. Essentially, doing things that tend to be associated with boys, not girls.

Mining a challenging career for Vale manager – Women in Mining: Samantha Espley – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – August 2013)

August 6, 2013

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

At her first summer mining job, while an engineering student at the University of Toronto, Samantha Espley was one of four women—of 10 students—hired on at Falconbridge’s Keno Gold Mine in Val d’Or, Que. It wasn’t until later that it dawned on her how unique it was to work with that many other women.

“I didn’t really think much of it at the time until after I realized how few women there really were to choose from,” said Sudbury-based Espley, who was the only woman in her engineering class. “So it was quite a neat experience.”

After graduating, Stan Bharti, who would later bestow Laurentian University’s engineering school with a $10-million endowment, interviewed Espley for her position at Falconbridge, where she remained for a few years before hiring on at Inco (now Vale). Since then, she’s worked in research, been a general foreman underground, acted as superintendent of business systems, and served as manager of nickel services for mining operations. She’s currently the general manager for mines and technical services.

Mining engineer an “oddity” in Canada – Women in Mining: Imola Götz – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – August 2013)

August 6, 2013

Imola Götz’s choice to study mining engineering wasn’t an unusual one while growing up in Romania. “There were many mines around my home town and I knew the possibilities and thought this was a very interesting career,” said the chief engineer at Goldcorp’s Porcupine Gold Mines in Timmins.

It was not unusual to find women working in the industry, with many filling technical positions. However, when she immigrated to Canada more than two decades ago, she was surprised there were not as many women working in the industry or pursuing engineering.

“When I got to Canada I was an oddity and I often got asked why I chose mining,” said Götz. She has been with Goldcorp for nearly 10 years and previously spent about 15 years in Manitouwadge. Her husband, Laszlo Götz, also works for Porcupine Gold Mines as its environmental manager. The couple decided to leave Romania early in their careers since the communist regime was “getting more and more intolerable.”

Women coal miners to gather in Jonesborough this weekend Archives of Appalachia to document their stories – by Sue Guinn Legg (Johnson City Press – July 30, 2013)

July 31, 2013

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/

Women coal miners from across the United States, Canada and England will gather in Jonesborough this weekend for a reunion at which their stories will be documented by the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University.

The first international gathering of women coal miners conducted in nearly 15 years, the Saturday and Sunday reunion will include guests from former underground miners’ organizations that pioneered gender integration in the coal industry in the 1970s as well as representatives from Women Against Pit Closures in England.

On Saturday, representatives of the Archives of Appalachia and ETSU’s Office of University Relations will film interviews of women miners to add to the archives’ existing coal mining collections, to strengthen the public understanding of the histories of mining and labor and to foster a greater appreciation for women miners.

Amy Collins, director of the Archives of Appalachia, said interest in the history of women coal miners draws researchers from across the country and abroad to archived collections at ETSU that document women miners’ efforts in the areas of mine health and safety, pregnancy research, parental leave and pay equity.

Women in Mining: Judy Baker – Challenges in junior exploration faced by both genders – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – August 2013)

July 29, 2013

(L to R) Judy Bake, CEO Superior Copper Resources; Delio Tortosa, Geologist; Morgan Quinn, Geologist.

http://www.superiorcopper.ca/

For Judy Baker, challenges in the junior exploration side of the mining industry aren’t necessarily linked to gender. It’s a formidable field that poses challenges for anyone who takes the work on. “The junior exploration and mining business is a tougher segment of the industry, because basically you’re taking the highest risk capital available to explore for mineral wealth, and the risk factor’s so high, it’s tough for anyone to be in, let alone women,” she said.

Baker, CEO at Superior Copper Resources, which is exploring at the former Coppercorp copper mine near Sault Ste. Marie, first developed an interest in the field while still in high school. Attending night courses in geology at Brock University, the theory of plate tectonics put forward by John Tuzo Wilson—the idea that the earth’s crust is comprised of a series of shifting plates—captured her interest and guided her into mining.

Big Annie’s legacy honored [Great Keweenaw Copper Strike] – by Kurt Hauglie (Daily Mining Gazette – July 5, 2013)

July 5, 2013

http://www.mininggazette.com/

CALUMET – For Lyndon Comstock, the story of Anna “Big Annie” Klobuchar Clemenc hasn’t been told thoroughly enough, and because of that, he recently wrote a book called “Annie Clemenc and the Great Keweenaw Copper Strike.”

Because of her efforts on behalf of copper miners and their families before, during and after the 1913-14 copper strike, Comstock nominated Clemenc for induction into the Labor’s International Hall of Fame. The nomination was accepted, and at 7 p.m. July 26, Comstock will be part of the ceremony to honor her induction, which will take place at the Keweenaw National Historical Park Calumet Visitor Center. The ceremony is taking place in Calumet as part of the observance of the centennial of the strike, which started July 23, 1913.

Comstock said he became aware of Clemenc’s importance to the miners during the copper strike while doing research for his cousin, Joanne Thomas, who created an exhibit about her now on display at the Coppertown USA Mining Museum in Calumet Township.

Comstock said he and Thomas had Croation ancestors involved in the strike, so they both felt a connection to the period. Thomas, who lives in Bolinas, Calif., but grew up in Muskegon, said as a result of working with Thomas, he decided to write the book. “That really came out of doing that research,” he said. Thomas said Clemenc, who was born in 1888 in Calumet to Slovenian immigrant parents, was unique for her involvement with the strike.